Observing Human and Dragon Relationships In Berk
by Wings of Avalon
Summary: Berk isn't paradise...but neither is Dragon Home for that matter.  An outsider observes interactions and relationships between dragons and humans - while also considering the possibilities of what could have been.
1. Failure

Stoic's Return, Failure At Finding The Dragon's Nest

The congratulations kept on coming, one of his villagers right after another. And so soon upon entering port!

"We're all so relieved Stoic!"

"Out with the old, in with the new!"

"The entire village is throwing a party to celebrate!"

"We surely won't miss the old him!"

Stoic's eyes widened as he took in his villagers happy faces. All four of them were smiling, happily trotting off to complete whatever task they had been set to do at port. In fact, he looked around; all of the villagers were smiling, laughing with one another.

As he and Gobber ascended the plank, more Vikings shouted their greetings down to him, as well as congratulations. He just…didn't understand. What were they so _happy_ about? Was it…oh_ gods_, did it have something to do with Hiccup?

Stoic stopped dead in his tracks, a trembling realization in his voice. His heart clenched painfully as ice ran through his veins. "He's…gone?"

A million thoughts rushed through his head at that exact moment. _I was too hard on him after all_, he thought guiltily. _I pushed him too hard to be the Viking I wanted him to be; I pushed him so hard he's run away from home. And who wouldn't blame him? It isn't like anyone in the village has ever _really_ tried to give him the support, love, and attention he really needed. Oh Thor, strike me down now. I've been such a horrible father to my son…my only son! _

Gobber froze next to him, giving him a hard stare. He quickly searched his face and his expression for…_something_. After a moment of silence, he shook his head. "Yeah…most mornings and afternoons, actually. But who can blame the lad? Being the village celebrity can really take it out of you. He can barely walk anywhere without being swarmed by his new fans."

Stoic gaped at him. "Hiccup?"

"Yeah. Who knew he had it in him? He's got this…_way_ with the beasts," he continued, walking up the plank and into the various boardwalks that ran around the port area.

Stoic stood there, the frozen fear quickly replaced with the warmth of pride and joy in his son. Yet one tiny voice whispered from deep inside of his heart: _Why did you assume he had run away? Why didn't you automatically think that he had actually done _well_ in dragon training?_

Stoic couldn't lie to himself. But he could certainly try. "My son…a dragon killing genius…"


	2. Freedom

Freedom, Or What Could Have Happened To Hiccup

"I did this."

Hiccup, the scrawniest Viking to ever have lived in the village of Berk, stood over his triumphant catch of a Nightfury – the most deadly dragon ever to have existed; the union of death and lightning…and more potent than either.

However, Hiccup was not your…_traditional_ Viking. He stood over the pitch black dragon, watching him writhe in pain from his invention. His legs and wings pinned in alarming directions, and who knows what kind of wounds from falling out of the sky mid-flight.

But if Hiccup wasn't a Viking, he was still human. Looking into those mystifying green eyes, he saw something he never thought he would in that dragon: himself. The scared and terrified creatures that they both were at that moment in time: one, for fear of being eaten, and the other for fear of having his heart cut out of his chest.

Still, even though Hiccup desperately wanted to be treated as one of his own people, he knew what he had to do.

~:~:~

Sawing sounds pricked up the Nightfury's ears. His gaze darted over to underneath his wings, where this tiny human was cutting away his bonds. He bided his time, before he felt all of his appendages loosen.

Like the bolt of lightning he was named after, the Nightfury jumped up from his position on the ground and grabbed the youngling (well, what he would have reckoned in dragon age) in between his claws. He slammed him against a nearby boulder, meaning to scare him…but his intent backfired.

As soon as the small human's head hit the rock, he heard a bone shattering _crunch_. The youngling's eyes rolled up into the back of his head, before he heard a loud moan…then silence. The Nightfury suddenly smelled the thick scent of copper and flesh, and brought his claw down slowly. As he did, the little human, fell to the side…leaving a trail of bright red liquid down the rock.


	3. Food

Feeding Time

The cold silence swathed him without comfort, remorse, or pity; his second home betwixt the churning waters and the speckled sky. The Nightfury gazed from afar as his brothers and sisters set to work on the village, plundering and pillaging the squat human dwellings for food.

Not that they would ever get the chance to eat any of it, mind you. He shriveled his nose in disgust. Ever since their Queen went rogue, it was all they could do to get the occasional small fish in their bellies to quench the daily pangs of hunger. For that matter, when the raids went badly, there was usually a little more to go around for the remainder of the hive…the Queen _had_ to eat, after all. He shivered at the thought.

A flash of light caught his attention, forcing him to angle and dip his wings in response. A Monstrous Nightmare had lit himself on fire, taking out the catapult nearest to the water's edge. He saw a giant human clobber him on his nose, trying to force the enormous beast off of the scaffolding…without much success.

This was his cue. He flapped his wings, flying high into the sky, the lack of moonlight making him invisible to prying eyes. When the fires below became as tiny as the spots of light in the sky, the Nightfury furled his wings and let gravity take control. The feeling of weightlessness as he sped towards the village was exhilarating, yet his mission forced him to concentrate solely on his target.

As the last catapult standing came into sight, and his sheer speed made the air around him screech horribly, the Nightfury opened his mouth and released his fire. The flames were so fierce that it burned white hot as it struck the catapult, smashing it to mere pieces no larger than his smallest toe. He released a deep, feral growl.

No one could touch him.


	4. Wisdom

Words of Wisdom

"The _Dragon Book_," Gobber intoned in a deep and melodramatic voice as he tossed something large and flat onto the smooth wooden table, "contains everything we know about every dragon we know of. It would be wise of you -" at this point he stopped and stared pointedly at Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout "- to read up on it. Our village has been slowly gathering the information found in this book since before the days our ancestors first sailed to Berk."

Fishlegs wiggled excitedly in his seat. "Do you know? I've read in there that there's this dragon that -"

"Does something cool, with whatever body part he does it with, at which point he sprays whatever goo he has inside of him, at whichever Vikings are nearest to him?" Astrid quickly spat out, irritated.

Fish Legs clamped his mouth shut. Every single one of them knew that when Astrid got into one of her moods that you stayed far, _far_ away from her. She tended to lash out at everyone, becoming much worse than an enflamed Monstrous Nightmare.

The table was silent after her outburst, until a well timed boom of thunder interrupted them. Gobber nodded to himself, saying, "No more training today. Study up." He hobbled off on his wooden leg, in search of a good cup of mead and a wholesome leg of meat.

"Study?" Ruffnut said incredulously.

"As in read?" Tuffnut replied, equally as surprised.

"Reading is for when I'm dead," Snotlout added, snorting in distaste. "I'd rather go wrestle another dragon."

"Another?" Tuffnut said, his right eyebrow raised in suspicion. "When did you wrestle the first one?"

A heated argument started up between the teens, following them as they excited from the Great Hall. Astrid got up to follow them, before a timid voice made her pause.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me now..."

"Already read it," she snapped, before stomping off out into the rain.

Hiccup sighed, used to the degrading treatment he received daily from his peers. _No, not peers_, he thought to himself. _That would imply that we were equals_. And as he knew, he was anything but. His first day in Dragon Training had reminded him of that all too well. He went to the kitchen and handed the bar maid his plate and cup, the only one on duty that night. She was older, but her massive biceps belied the fact that she could probably still crush a dragon's neck if she tried. Hiccup thanked her, frowning as he turned back towards the long tables that filled the hall.

It wasn't as if he hadn't tried to fit in. Every time he had, though, something always went wrong. Hell, they could probably name the effect that caused catastrophes in and around Berk the "Hiccup Effect," or "Hiccup's Law." Literally? When something could go wrong _and_ did, it was his fault. He didn't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of disasters that had befallen his fellow villagers and himself whenever he had tried to "fit in."

Hiccup shook his head, ridding himself of the depressing thoughts. He had other matters to attend to as he sat down and fingered the worn leather: first, learning all he could about Night Furies, and two, learning why the only Night Fury he had ever seen and lived to tell about it had not eaten him or killed him the first chance he got.

Peer pressure can wait until tomorrow.


	5. Etiquette

Proper Etiquette

He held the fish out, his arm shaking with the exertion to keep it still...as well as from the fear running through him that it might be bitten off at any moment. Hiccup shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the inevitable.

Which never came, of course. After a few tense minutes, he slowly lowered his shield and looked around. The clearing before him was empty, save for the chirping of a few songbirds and the occasional splash of a fish from the small lake in the center. Other than that, there was silence.

Hiccup moved forward and was jolted to a stop, finding that his shield would not fit through the opening in the rocks. He pushed and pulled, shoving it this way and that, but it wouldn't budge. Sighing, he ducked underneath it and walked slowly out into the open. _Well, if I'm going to be cooked to a crisp, I suppose a shield wouldn't help much except to give it a platter to serve me on_, he thought wryly.

As he looked around, Hiccup did notice a few signs that the Night Fury had been there. A claw mark in the dirt, a broken branch lying next to the cliff face, and the unmistakable odor of feces wafted towards his nose from a rather remote corner of the canyon. He wrinkled his nose, noting that at least the dragon knew to keep it away from the clean water supply.

~:~:~

He watched the human carefully as he walked slowly out from his hiding place in the rock wall. It was the same human that had been watching _him_, using a stick to make odd shapes in that flat thing of his that bent in half. Well, he wasn't going to let him sneak up on him a second time; his pride as a Night Fury would not let him. This time, _he_ would be the one who would be surpr-oh heavens, what was that _smell_?

Oh, it was heavenly. His mouth watered just at imagining the taste of it. His eyes narrowed and darted around the area, looking for its origin, when he almost roared out in surprise: it was the human! It had a big, tasty, juicy, _delicious_ fish in its hand! He had to get closer, if not for the strange human, then at least to get the fish! He hadn't eaten yet today, thanks to those arrogantly fast fish who lived in the lake.

~:~:~

Hiccup was wandering around a pile of boulders when he heard it: the small _chink_ of a loosed pebble. He spun around, only to see the offspring of death and lightning staring him down from above. He swallowed nervously as the dragon slithered down over the rocks and slowly towards him, his bright green eyes staring at him intensely. However, Hiccup suddenly noticed that the dragon's demeanor was quite changed since the last time he saw him. That time, the slits of his eyes had been so narrow that the speckled green of his eyes dominated the orb. This time, the slit was huge, giving the dragon an almost..._almost_ innocent look.

It was at that moment that the dragon licked his lips with his forked tongue. Hiccup looked down at the fish he was holding, finally realizing why the dragon seemed so calm at the moment. Slowly, he held it out by the gills towards the Night Fury. Just to see what would happen.

~:~:~

Slowly he crept up on the human, watching him as he would any of his prey. Especially since the human smelled of the village that he and his brothers and sisters had attacked a few days ago. As he dropped to the ground in front of the boulder he had been standing on, he heard the small human make a strange noise. And it _was_ small; it was probably the smallest big human he had ever seen! He could tell it was older, since it didn't smell like a newborn human.

The smell of fish overpowered his highly sensitive nose, practically making him drool. He walked closer and closer to the human, as the human walked backwards away from him, until he licked his lips - making the human understand his intent to eat the delicious fish he was holding.

As if by a miracle, the human seemed to understand and held the fish out towards him. He crawled along slowly towards him, opening his mouth to grab the fish, when...he smelled the tang of metal. The Night Fury growled at him, his armored scales bristling in the sunlight. He saw the human reach for his belt, and prepared to attack him. The human placed his hand on the instrument of death, before..._he threw it away into the water_.

Hmm. This human was strange. It was going to kill him with that knife, and instead cut him free. What made him change his mind? No matter; fish first, strange human later. He sat down, flicking his tail back and forth until the human held out his prize once more.

~:~:~

"Huh...toothless. I could've sworn you had -"

~:~:~

_Chomp_.

~:~:~

"- teeth..." Hiccup squeaked out as he frantically retracted his hand. The dragon had been all gums, but in a flash his teeth had suddenly appeared from the pink gummy ridges inside of its mouth. It literally swallowed the fish whole, chewing it maybe once, before licking its lips again in satisfaction.

And before it started to advance on Hiccup, sniffing him, searching.

"I-I don't h-have any more," he stuttered out in a terrified whisper as the dragon backed him up against a large boulder. _So this is how I die_, he thought to himself. _I tempted fate too many times. Dad won't even know where to find my body for the funeral rites._

~:~:~

No more fish? He sniffed the air. Yes, no more fish. But he would be a good dragon like he had been taught: if a dragon - or human, in this case - shared food with you, you must oblige them by giving them food as well. And since he hadn't hunted yet that day...

~:~:~

A terrible coughing noise suddenly gained Hiccup's attention. The Night Fury seemed to be heaving, his eyeballs rolling up into his head, and his neck muscles contracting and expanding. _Oh gods, I've killed him!_ he thought to himself...until half of a regurgitated fish suddenly materialized with plenty of dragon spittle into his lap. The smell was revolting, as well as the slimy texture on his hands.

Satisfied, the dragon stepped back and sat up on his haunches, looking at him expectantly. Hiccup looked around, trying to figure out what exactly was going on, or what he was supposed to do. A soft grunt above him showed the Night Fury looking between him and the fish multiple times.

Hiccup's eyes widened in horror. He wouldn't, couldn't, eat the fish...could he? This was a gesture he had never seen a dragon perform before; he literally had made a gift out of the half-eaten fish. He couldn't turn it down - dragons had never before made a gesture of kindness towards humans...instead preferring to eat them, cook them, or squash them flat.

He slowly lifted the fish to his mouth, already gagging at the smell, when he steeled his nerves and took a bite. Hiccup held it in his mouth, smiling up at the dragon, when the dragon made a swallowing motion. Already feeling sick, he tried to swallow the half-digested mouthful of fish. As he did, he gagged not once, but twice as it slid down his throat.

"Blech," he said, shivering in disgust. But not only to astonish him not only once, but twice that day, the dragon licked his lips. Hiccup strained out a smile for it, indicating the fish was...tasty, if not disgusting.

~:~:~

The facial gesture the human wore puzzled the Night Fury. It's mouth was curving up towards the sky. Interested, he tried it himself; it was strange, and his muscles strained at the unusual motion, but he did it!

The human, on the other hand, was looking a bit green to him at that moment - not their usual pink color. He was also putting his arms around his stomach and leaning towards the grass and-

~:~:~

The Night Fury, as he hung upside down napping, satisfied himself with the knowledge that dragon etiquette had served him well that day. It had been drilled into his brain since his hatching, and was an integral part of dragon society. In the end, maybe humans weren't so different from dragons...

After all, the human had gone and reciprocated the food sharing gesture to him.


	6. Heated

Heated

He hissed, pulling his fingers back from the superheated metal and dipping them quickly into the bucket of cool water. It wasn't often that he burned his fingers - in fact, he could count the times he had on one hand. It was only when he wasn't as focused as he should be on the task at hand when he singed them.

Pulling them out, he wiped them off on his leather apron. Looking back at the anvil, he narrowed his eyes. It was slowly cooling, the once bright cherry red piece of metal was now a dull burgundy. Sighing, he picked up the nearest tongs and grabbed it, thrusting it back into the fire.

Pumping the bellows and filling the forge with air and the necessary energy to re-heat the metal, he allowed his mind to drift to what he had been daydreaming about when he had burned his fingers.

He couldn't honestly believe him, and he knew that Stoick was in the wrong as well. Of course there had been fighting and arguing - they were _always_ fighting and arguing. Not a day went by when they hadn't. But now...well, now things would be different, now wouldn't it?

Allowing himself a small grin, he retrieved his metal from the forge and placed it back on the anvil. He knew it would take time, but maybe, just maybe, this would be a step in the right direction for both of them. It wouldn't be immediate; he wasn't an idiot, he knew that much. But it would be something to talk about, a common trait they finally shared, that one spark that would ignite their relationship into what it truly should be.

He brought his entire hand down on the metal, sparks flying. He pounded it several dozen times, moving the piece every so often to obtain an even surface. After nodding to himself, he set the metal back into the flames and walked over to the wall of tools in the back of the smithy.

Removing his hand, he switched out his large hammer for his smaller more precise hammer. As he twisted the appendage back onto his stub of a wrist, Gobber could only wonder if Berk would survive this storm - as it were - before Hiccup and Stoick finally came to their senses.


	7. Socks

Socks

"Did you get them?"

"Of course!"

"Good. He didn't see you, did he?"

"No - his snoring covered every one of my footsteps across his creaky floor. Honestly, I couldn't tell which was worse: his snoring or those awful old floors."

"Nevermind about that now. How many did you manage to get this time?"

"At least six. There were a few more sitting in a basket, but there is _no_ way in Valhalla I was going anywhere near his dirty laundry."

"Excellent."

"So why exactly are we only stealing Gobber's left socks again?"

"Duh. So he thinks the trolls are after him again. Don't you remember? He went on and on about it in the dining hall the other night. Even Hiccup was starting to get bored from it."

"Alright, alright, I get it. I didn't picture you the prankster type the first time we did this. But I have to admit, after what you did with those eggs and Fishleg's shoes..."

"Yeah, that was pretty impressive, wasn't it?"

"Definitely! Now, shall we move onto our next...victim?"

"If you mean replacing all of Snotlout's clothes with his father's to make him think he is shrinking, then by all means, let us begin."


	8. Advantage

Advantage

He cocked his head, looking oddly at the little human who sat on his tail, feeling the pinching feeling slowly ebbing away. His - Hiccup, that is - newest idea on how to make him fly had worn the leather away, making the metal pinch his scales each time he adjusted the fake wing.

The Night Fury felt pleased, watching his little human work with his small hands and fingers to fix his...whatever it was called.

"Toothless! Ready to try again?" he suddenly called, standing up and turning around with a huge grin on his face.

Toothless. That too. A name; _his_ name. Dragons didn't give each other names...well, names that humans could pronounce. There were sounds and smells that let all of the other dragons know who they were, but since dragons couldn't obviously speak Norse they had no need for them.

But it was different with this human...with Hiccup. After their initial confrontation, when he had freed him, to when they bonded over the fish and using sticks to make pictures, they had begun not only to act in a friendly way towards each other...but as friends.

Hiccup brought him fish every time he visited him in his valley. A huge, giant basket full of fish! And in return, he had allowed him to begin strapping strange things to not only his tail, but his back and forelegs. After the first trial run he had begun to realize what Hiccup was doing: he was replacing the part of the tail he had lost the night that he had been stranded on this island.

He growled softly. He wished he could rip apart that Viking, whichever one it was who had the audacity to shoot him - a Night Fury! - out of the sky.

Hiccup patted him on the nose, his small face wrinkling in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. The small human looked directly into his sea green eyes, not an ounce of fear within his emerald green ones.

Toothless shook his head, butting up against Hiccup in a small show of affection. The human smiled, continuing with the re-setting and re-testing of his new device.

He turned his head, watching him. If only every human were as kind as his Hiccup, then maybe dragons could live peacefully with humans.

Names.

Possessiveness.

Things to call his, and things that called him theirs.

Strange, how life seemed to work out. Many days ago he wouldn't have even dreamed that he would be without his means of flight, stranded on an island full of humans, befriending a human who was trying to correct his injury. It would have been unheard of! He was raised to kill all humans, to take their food for his own and for his Queen.

A soft pat on his head startled him out of his musings.

Hiccup was looking at him again, nodding his head. "Looks good! Shall we give this new harness a try?" he asked him, pointing up towards the sky.

He gave a soft roar, showing his eagerness. He shook himself gently, feeling the new harness move with him, as if it were part of his scaled hide. He looked backwards, noting that this time Hiccup had added some kind of round object to the wing which had a thin line of material running under his body. It wound over the strap on his shoulder as well, before meeting the objects Hiccup placed his feet on while he sat on his back.

"Does my work meet with your approval?" he asked with a laugh, walking around to Toothless's back. He carefully jumped up onto his back, strapping himself to the saddle; they both had learned that lesson the hard way, after Toothless had twisted over the lake - dumping Hiccup unceremoniously into the water. "Alright, let's go!" Hiccup shouted, his knees digging in slightly to Toothless's sides.

He roared, stretching out his midnight black wings. With a few mighty flaps, he had propelled them high into the air, the valley below them quickly disappearing from view.

As Toothless leveled himself out, gliding on the warm drafts of air rising from the island, he felt extremely content. Although he could no longer fly on his own, he had Hiccup there doing his best to help him through that problem. And he knew that Hiccup was content too; he had been doing that strange upturned mouth thing more and more each time he saw him. For that matter, more scents had started appearing on him; not very strong smells, but the smells of other humans where he lived.

It had been so strange, Hiccup's first smell. He could only smell Hiccup, and the faint scent of maybe four or five other humans. Other than that, there was nothing. The normal humans who they had attacked for food always smelled strongly of many other humans besides themselves. It was this proof that he knew Hiccup seemed to finally belong more with the other humans, and proof that he was changing from more than just a youngling into an older human.

He tossed his head midflight, his lower right headplate suddenly itching tremendously. He tried reaching it with his front paw, but his leg couldn't reach up that high while he was flying. He tried not to jostle Hiccup too much, but -

Suddenly nimble fingers began running up and down the outer side of his lower right headplate, chasing the itch around and around until it slowly vanished. Hiccup continued to scratch lazily, smiling as a happy purring noise issued from Toothless's chest and tickled the sides of his legs. "Better?" he asked loudly over the sound of the wind, bending closer to his ear.

Toothless grinned, just like Hiccup had showed him. Oh yes, this relationship _definitely_ had its advantages.


	9. Defeat

Defeat

He slammed his fist against the soft ground, his frustration quietly escaping him - and the notice of the rest of the village.

Dragon training.

Tradition.

Dragons.

His father.

He wanted to scream out his anger at them all, but at this time of the night any type of noise would bring the nighttime dragon watch running.

All he had ever wanted was the approval of his father and his village. All he had ever wanted to be was a dragon slayer, just like his father, and just like his father's father before him.

But _no_, he had to befriend a dragon! And a Night Fury above all else! The offspring of lightning and death itself...the dragon that would be the last thing you lived to see. The dragon that had wormed its way into his heart and had given him the unconditional love and companionship that he had longed for his entire life. The dragon that was his best friend.

Hiccup closed his eyes, taking deep breaths in order to quell the nauseousness that was beginning to creep up from his belly. He had come out to the ledge behind his home that overlooked the vast ocean, needing to escape from his now 'proud' father - who couldn't be more proud of the son who had turned out to be one of the greatest 'dragon slayers' that the village had ever seen.

Who knew that the little tricks he had picked up from Toothless would have helped him in the training ring? If he would have known that from the beginning, that all they would do is escalate his status from village outcast to village celebrity, he would have preferred failing miserably. Now he couldn't walk anywhere in the village without people shouting their congratulations, their good luck's, and their overall appreciation of his newfound abilities.

He snorted. Abilities? More like carelessly used lies. And that's all he was in the end, wasn't he? A lie. His entire existence.

Hiccup was the runt of the village. The tiniest, the scrawniest, the least muscular. Even Fishlegs, the nerd of the village, ranked higher than he did - and he was the son of the Village Chief! No one cared about him when he behaved and did what he was supposed to, but if he even made the tiniest of mistakes he wouldn't hear the end of it for days on end. The adults ignored him, his peers hated him, and the children ridiculed him.

Opening his eyes, he stared out at the starry night sky. It was clear tonight, and strangely enough no dragons had attacked since the night Toothless had...

...lost his ability to fly, which was all his fault.

Hiccup groaned again. He knew that if Toothless ever learned the truth, or better yet understood it, he knew that he wouldn't have long to live. He would probably rip his head from his shoulders, or better yet one limb at a time leaving him alive to feel the pain until he finally did end his life.

Had he really fallen so far? Tomorrow, he would go head to head with Astrid in the training ring, to prove which one of them had earned the chance to kill their first dragon in front of the entire village. In reality, he was terrified; they had never practiced with the Monstrous Nightmare, which literally was the point of the exercise. If you survived training, you were ready to slay a dragon. But if you happened to coast along using a few tricks you picked up from playing with a dragon like it was a pet, then you were more than likely to either reveal yourself for the liar you were or die in the process.

He really hoped for the former rather than the latter. Hiccup would rather live a shameful life than have a humiliating death.

He also hoped that maybe, _just_ maybe, Astrid would take out the dragon first tomorrow. Gods be with him if she didn't.


	10. Gravity

Gravity

The screaming in their ear's did not help things whatsoever, especially with her pulling Hiccup backwards off of the saddle with her. "Astrid, calm down!" he said loudly. He didn't shout, because he wasn't angry or worried; he only wanted to prove to her that he knew what he was doing, and that Toothless was harmless. Even if he wasn't helping their situation currently.

"Toothless, what are you doing?" he said reprimandingly, as if speaking to a child who had stolen the last cookie.

He snorted, flying yet higher into the air. His strong wings pumped the wind, brushing it aside as if it were no more than a mild bother.

"Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile," Hiccup groaned as they spun around yet again midair.

Higher and higher they rose, until Toothless leveled off...momentarily.

"See, there we go. Now Tooth-" The rest of Hiccup's sentence was cut off as the Night Fury stooped into an extremely deep dive, flying faster than they had ever flown before. He angled himself towards the ocean, the waves coming closer and closer until...

_Splash!_ The three of them dropped beneath the frigid waves, but only momentarily. Quickly after Toothless shot up and out, only to dip back in. Once, twice, thrice more he did this, before his ears picked up the stumbling of words.

"Okay, okay! I get it! I won't tell! Just...make it stop!" Astrid gasped out, holding tightly to Hiccup's middle, her eyes clenched shut and her skin a pale shade of green.

Then suddenly it was if all was right with the world...at least, right side up that is. Toothless leveled off at a height several hundred feet above the ocean, the sunset glinting off of his polished ebony scales. He glided in the warm air currents, occasionally beating his wings to keep straight on his course.

Slowly the air returned to Hiccup's lungs as Astrid released him, finally opening her eyes. He heard her take in a small gasp of surprise as she looked around her.

"We're...we're flying?" she whispered hoarsely into his ear, as if speaking any louder would break the spell the silence of the air had woven around them.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "How do you think we got up here?" he asked back sarcastically.

She hit him gently on the shoulder. "Not funny loser," she said crossly, but for once her voice lacked any of the angry bite it usually had.

As the world they knew fell away into an endless white scape of clouds, the tension that had always been between the two of them - the incessant put-down's, the nasty attitudes, the feelings of worthlessness and self pity - they fell away with the gravity that had always held them down.

Toothless angled himself, drawing alongside a steep mountain of clouds. Astrid, curious, unclenched one of her hands from Hiccup's shirt and reached up to touch what had been previously impossible for any human. It felt cool, but as soon as she touched it the clouds parted - like ripples in the water. Laughing, she brought both arms above her head and wiggled her fingers in the insubstantial substance.

Hiccup smiled, hearing her laugh. The harsh, condescending chortles he had always heard from her didn't compare in the least to the soft ringing of bells he heard now. He liked it; hearing her laugh, that is.

Feeling his face grown hot, he shook his head, and kneed Toothless to go higher.

The Night Fury complied, and the three of them looped high into the sky, through the clouds, and left the last runs of sun behind them. Breaking through the dense fog, they emerged into a bright moonlit and starlit night high above the earth. It was absolutely silent, beyond the soft wind in their ears. There were no other humans, no other dragons, no fighting, no killing. This pure, perfect world had never been touched by the impure.

Sighing softly, Astrid smiled and wrapped her arms around Hiccup, resting her chin on his shoulder armor. Hiccup smiled, casting only his eyes towards her. It was as if there had never been any animosity between them, no rivalry, no anger. Just...them. As they were meant to be.

The clouds parted, and Berk came rushing into view. They flew high over the stone faces, mouths filled with flame, that were a supposed deterrant to raiders and dragons alike. They were also the beacons that the villagers used to find their way back home in the dense Atlantic fog.

"This is amazing..." Astrid breathed out softly, her blonde locks waving in the wind. "He's amazing," she quickly added, patting Toothless on his foreleg.

"But...why?" she asked him suddenly. "Why all this?"

Hiccup was quiet for a moment, pondering her question. "Do you mean -" he was cut off suddenly by the sudden tension in Toothless's body. His ear plates went rigid, listening this way and that, as the sudden sound of shrieking dragons filled the air.

"Oh no..." Dozens, if not hundreds, of dragons soared through the dark sky all around them. Hiccup and Astrid leaned close to Toothless, as if the other dragons would not see them if they did. "Toothless, we have to get out of here," Hiccup hissed in his ear.

Toothless whipped his head back and forth, ignoring Hiccup's plea.

The pull was too strong.

She..._she_ was calling them back.


	11. Pride

Pride

"I'll take revenge for you! I'll chop of their legs. With my _face_," Snotlout bragged, waving his leg of meat around in the air for emphasis.

Gobber swallowed loudly, waving his hook around. "It's not the legs yer after, it's the tails," he said, interrupting Snotlout's boasting. "Without a tail, a dragon can't fly," Gobber continued, "and a downed dragon is a _dead_ dragon."

"Well, either way, it's my destiny to slay dragons," Tuffnut said, flexing his arms and his slowly building muscles in front of all of them.

"Wow! When did your mom let you get a tattoo?!" Fishlegs said, jaw dropping. "That's so cool!"

"It's not a tattoo - it's a birthmark," Tuffnut replied smugly.

"Not it's not," Ruffnut retorted. "I would have seen it."

"Well, it's on my left side - you've never seen that side of me before," he retorted quickly. The twins continued to argue over body parts, leaving the rest of the group to roll their eyes.

~:~:~

Astrid had been concentrating on the flames of the fire in front of her, thinking back to the training session earlier that day. She had been in top form, but it wouldn't be enough; she would have to practice using her axe more tomorrow when it was lighter out. Her throws had been off by an inch or two, and she wouldn't accept anything less than perfection in herself and everyone around her.

And speaking of perfection, she thought back to Hiccup's poor performance, as usual. Why had Stoick even allowed him to enter dragon training? His son was nowhere near coordinated or strong enough to take down a dragon. She snorted; knowing him, he probably couldn't even kill a Terrible Terror, and those were the size of their sheep!

She went to say something to him, something derogatory (probably about his own inability to do anything), when she noticed his fish sitting where he had been only moments ago. It was still steaming slightly, so he hadn't been gone for long. She stood up and walked slowly over to the stairs of the lookout point where they had decided to eat dinner.

Astrid heard quiet footfalls leading down the steps, slightly rushed. She shook her head; she didn't want to understand the strange things that the chieftain's son did, nor did she have to. At least until he became chief, and at that thought she shuddered.

Hiccup, from the time he was small, was always getting into trouble. He was the smallest Viking in the village - well, outside of the children - and he was always curious. Curious about the animals, curious about the people, and even more curious about how things worked. It was why everyone was relieved when Gobber took him under his wing and made him spend most of his days in the forge.

From that moment on, the village had mostly been quiet, restful, peaceful. That is...until Hiccup had begun to create things. His latest project? The bolo launcher thing that smacked villagers in the head. At least six men and women had sported large bruises on their arms and heads thanks to him.

She wouldn't deny that he would be as great a blacksmith as Gobber someday...if he managed to put on some muscle. His fish stick arms and legs could barely lift the giant hammers onto the anvils at the forge, let alone pump the bellows to keep the fires lit.

But he was the Chief's son. He was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, son of Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk. Astrid would continue to work harder than her peers, pushing herself as far as she could go and farther, to make sure her village wouldn't falter under him when the time came.

_He _might be a mistake, but _she_ would be perfect.


	12. Safe

Safe

"No! We don't have to fight them!" he said calmly, keeping his eyes on the Monstrous Nightmare in front of him.

"Hiccup! Enough!" Stoick shouted from his throne of stone, his blood beginning to race.

"They aren't what we think they are! We don't have to kill them! We can -"

Stoick stood up and strode to the metal fence surrounding the arena. "I SAID _ENOUGH_!" he roared, banging his hammer on the metal.

The spell broken, the Monstrous Nightmare's eyes suddenly shrunk to mere slits, a roar rumbling up through his chest and out into the arena. Hiccup shrunk back as he let his flames loose through the open roof and into the sky beyond.

_Gods, what have I done?!_ Hiccup thought to himself as he scrambled to get away.

~:~:~

In the nearby woods, Toothless had been pacing restlessly back and forth all morning. He _knew_ something big was happening today, in the place with wood and the humans, with his Hiccup.

Something _bad_.

Hiccup had come to him that morning, with an enormous basket full of fish, and had spoken to him softly and scratched all his favorite places - especially under his chin. He had seemed distracted, like he was there but not there. It had made him extremely worried.

When the shouting noises had started, he had jumped, his ears tilted and listening for sounds of battle. When he didn't hear anything dangerous, he relaxed...slightly. But the feeling that something was wrong, _very_ wrong, did not leave him.

Suddenly, he heard a roar. He spun, growling towards the sound. Whoever it was, they were _angry_. They wanted out, and they wanted to hurt something.

Toothless roared himself in reply, his sudden feeling of dread making complete sense to him. He knew that the humans practiced killing dragons like him, and that Hiccup had come to him smelling like those other dragons. He hadn't liked it, especially that Deadly Nadder - she was all over him! But none of that mattered now; his Hiccup was in danger.

He jumped and glided around the small lake towards the rock ledge Hiccup always used to come down to visit him. Crouching, he tensed his muscles before springing high into the air, scrambling up the near sheer rock face, before a single set of claws finally gripped the slippery surface.

_I'm coming Hiccup!_ he thought to himself, his eye slits narrow.

~:~:~

Hiccup raced around the arena, dodging blasts of gooey fire from the enraged dragon. Astrid, stupid Astrid, had run in and began throwing random weapons that had been lying around at it, forcing it to run after her as well.

Even worse, the villagers were going berserk. Out of the corner of his eye, he had seen his father disappear into the shouting throng; to where, he had no idea. Until...

"Over here!" a deep voice shouted. He automatically ran towards the voice, the sense of safety it conveyed that was instinctual to him. He saw Astrid slip under the gate his father was holding up, who continued to motion to him with his giant, burly arms. He was almost there when the Monstrous Nightmare blocked his way with a belch of fire and brimstone.

He backpedaled, scrambling away from the heat towards the other side of the arena. As he fled, the fear and adrenaline pumping through his body left little room for anything else; however, one thought persisted through all of it:

Toothless.

Hiccup had failed. In failing to calm the dragon fully in front of all of the villagers, he had failed in showing them that they could be something besides killers. He failed in proving to his own father that he wasn't a complete failure - that he had accomplished something no Viking in the history of Vikings had ever done. And he had failed Toothless; without his compassion and mercy for his four-legged friend, Toothless would eventually be found and killed...well, after his funeral of course. Hiccup knew that he was going to die in the arena thanks to his foolish ideals and Viking pride - the one thing he _had_ inherited from his father, besides his stubbornness.

~:~:~

The brown and green landscape flew by him as Toothless ran and alternately glided as fast as he could towards the screams of terror and the roars of anger. If only he could fly! He would have been there already, and tearing that Monstrous Nightmare to pieces. All he could think about was Hiccup; was the human alright? Had he been hurt at all?

The one thing that Toothless paid no attention to was the fact that once the villagers saw him, they would most likely kill him. He couldn't fly, which meant he couldn't get away. He had seen many dragons fall under the sharp sticks and heavy objects the humans hit them with many times, and never return to the skies, let alone their home. He knew that he was sending himself to this same kind of death as well, but it did not matter; he would save Hiccup, his friend, no matter the cost.

~:~:~

The Monstrous Nightmare had him pinned down under his massive claws, his rank breath blowing sulfurous gasses into his face. Hiccup's clothes were burned, torn, and dirty from racing around the arena as he did his best to avoid the deadly fire. He pushed against the claws, trying desperately to free himself, willing his entire body to fight back.

But then, oh then, he heard the most _glorious_ sound in the world!

To the rest of the villagers, it was the most _terrifying_ sound in the world.

A high pitched whine grew from a soft hum to a tremendous ear piercing shriek as it came ever closer to the arena. The villagers looked around, trying to place where it was coming from, until a bright bluish-white light blinded them all - covering the entrance of a streak of black as it dove in through the hole it made in the metal chains covering the arena.

Smoke rose from the arena floor, obscuring the view from anyone outside of it. Stoick and Astrid, standing at the arena doors, peered into the brown fog, unsure of the fate of the young teenage Viking who had been at the mercy of the large dragon only moments ago.

But it was at that moment, after that sudden silence that startled everyone into silence, that not one - but _two_ – raging roars suddenly erupted from the arena. As the upper smoke began to clear it began apparent that two sets of wings and tails tumbled over and under each other, claws scraping and teeth gnashing.

A midnight black dragon, much smaller than the Monstrous Nightmare, was growling at the Monstrous Nightmare. His wingspan was enormous, at least five Vikings across touching finger to finger, and his muscular body was stout but powerful. His eyes were a bright sea green, but the black feline slits were so small and narrow it seemed like they had been swallowed whole. But the strangest part was the contraption on his back, tail, and legs: he seemed to have a saddle on him, along with an artificial tail and a gear system.

"Night Fury!"

"Get away!"

"Hiccup, get away from them! Quickly!"

All of the now terrified shouts and screams fell dead upon his ears as Hiccup lay sprawled on the ground, his battered body feeling oddly light. Toothless was fighting against the Monstrous Nightmare, keeping a fair distance between the two of them and not allowing the other dragon to come any nearer to him whatsoever.

He couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of relief. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt now, that Toothless had come for him. Him. The village fool. And all he could do was continue to smile dumbly.

~:~:~

As he launched his fire against the metal that barred his way, Toothless could see that the other dragon had his Hiccup pinned under his claws. He saw how his normally perfect clothes were torn and slightly bloodied in some places. And he saw how scared he was; his eyes were wide, trembling, as he tried to get out from underneath the other dragon.

Toothless saw red. Instantly a smoke screen covered the entire area as his fire hit the arena, blocking the Monstrous Nightmare's vision; the larger dragon backed off momentarily to the far side of the arena. As he landed, he dropped squarely in front of Hiccup, leaning half over him and wrapping his tail around the rest of him.

He sniffed the human, inspecting him, when a small pair of arms threw themselves around his neck. His eyes grew wide, the pupils dilating, when he realized that he could feel water on his neck...and that Hiccup was sobbing into his shoulder.

"You-you came f-for me," he stuttered, burying himself into his hard scales.

Toothless murmured a soft growl, almost a purr, as he gently nudged the small human. _My_ Hiccup. He was furious; furious at the other dragon, furious at the humans. Who let a tiny human go up against a giant dragon like that?! Hiccup was not only smaller than all other humans he had seen; he was also not as strong as the other humans either! He wanted to tear off the head of the human that had put him up to this.

A ferocious snarl suddenly brought to his attention the slowly approaching dragon. Snarling back at him, Toothless gently pushed his snout at Hiccup and with his tail carefully brushed him backwards away from the approaching danger as the air began to clear. He would protect him, no matter what.

~:~:~

As the Monstrous Nightmare finally backed away, back into his cell, Hiccup came hobbling up to Toothless. "You have to get away!" he hissed at him. "You have to go - now! Otherwise they'll...they'll..." he didn't finish, but both of them knew the consequences, now that Toothless had revealed himself.

"Hiccup, get away from that dragon!" a booming voice ordered as Stoick stomped into the arena.

Sensing danger yet again, Toothless snarled and stepped in front of Hiccup, to protect him from the giant human stalking towards them.

"No, Toothless, don't!" Hiccup hissed at him again, trying to pull him backwards away from Stoick. "Please!" he begged.

Stoick grabbed his club, raising it over his head. Toothless saw this and roared, lunging towards him. He grabbed the club in his teeth and threw it away just as he pushed Stoick down hard against the ground, ready to rip out his throat.

"Toothless, STOP!" Hiccup screamed.

Toothless froze, looking back ashamedly at Hiccup. Stoick, dumbstruck as well by the sudden change in the dragon, took the opportunity to toss the Night Fury off of him, grab his snout, and wrestle him to the ground. All at once dozens of other Vikings grabbed him as well, tying him with ropes and binding his claws and teeth.

Hiccup looked on in horror, his eyes wet and his jaw gaping. "No...no...you can't do this!" he shouted, running forward and trying to pry the ropes off of Toothless. A rough hand grabbed him by the neck and picked him up, his legs dangling uselessly several feet above the ground. "Let me go!" he shrieked, fighting against his captor.

"Stop it boy," a gruff voice said in his ear. "You'll only make it harder on yerself."

Hiccup stopped fighting, but not once did his gaze waver from the pleading look Toothless was giving him as he was hauled away towards the dragon cells. He whined, his eyes darting back and forth as he was forcibly hauled away. Right before he disappeared, his eyes locked with Hiccup's. They stared at each other, their eyes searching for answers to resolve their unfair situation, but in the end they both realized what they truly needed:

Hiccup and Toothless smiled at each other. No matter what, no one could truly separate them.


	13. Ignorance

Ignorance

"Dad, just listen to me!"

"You're no Viking...you're not my son."

_Boom._

Stoick blinked in the bright sunlight outside of the Great Hall, before suddenly swooning and having to lean against one of the pillar's holding up the roof. He clutched one hand to his chest, breathing heavily.

_Gods, what have I just done?!_ he thought to himself. He fell heavily against the pillar, shutting his eyes to the world. _I've just disowned my son...my only son...Gods, what do I do now?_

Opening his eyes, he did what he did best: watch. There was no movement, no sound, from the area in and around the Great Hall. All of the able-bodied villagers had been sent to collect arms and prepare the boats for war. And now that he knew that the Night Fury could lead them directly to the home of the dragons, he knew that they had no choice but to make war if they were to survive.

_But what about Hiccup?_ a tiny little voice said in the back of his mind.

What about Hiccup? Stoick snorted; his son had never caused him anything but trouble. Always inventing things, running off and getting his nose stuck into business he had no need sticking it into. He was a small teenager, yes, without much muscle; even being the Chief's son afforded him few opportunities to escape ridicule. Dragon training had been a mistake; even with the mischief he would have caused being in the smithy, it would have been less than fooling everyone into thinking he actually had potential in becoming a great dragon slayer like his father.

_His father...the only person who ever truly mattered to him...abandoning him...disowning him..._ the little voice continued. _Isn't that all he ever wanted? For his father to recognize him? To tell him that -_

He cut off the voice. Standing up tall, Stoick steeled himself. He didn't look back once, but walked out from under the shadows and into the bright light of the Berkian fall. People were running around, going back and forth to and from the docks. As he strode into the midst of his people, an invisible wall pushed them all away. Most backed away from him, others averted their eyes, and some just stared. This continued all the way until he reached the bridge to the dragon arena, and found Spitelout and Gobber waiting for him, arguing.

"And I said we should cut his head off and be done with it!" Spitelout said, seething anger.

"And I said no! Look at what the boys done now, aye. You saw that saddle, the harness, the tail - he's _fixed_ him, that's what he's done. That is a fake tail, and the things he puts his feet on change its direction so the dragon can as well. It's genius!"

"Genius?" Stoick said icily, joining in the conversation. Both Spitelout and Gobber jumped, before nodding their heads respectively at him and quickly shutting up. "This is nothing more than a child's plaything. Hiccup has betrayed us; betrayed his village, betrayed his people, to those monsters that have killed hundreds of us since the founding of Berk generations ago. He is Outcast."

Gobber gasped, and Spitelout stared. "Now, now wait just a minute Stoick..." Gobber stumbled.

"I am Chief of this village, of the Hairy Hooligan tribe. What I say is law, and I say that Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is a traitor to his people and betrayer of us to the monstrous dragons. He is Outcast, and will be sent away from Berk. Forever," he quickly added, his back straight and his chin high.

"Stoick, ye can't do that! He's yer own son, yer own flesh and blood! He's the only thing you have left of Valhallarama!" Gobber shouted at him, hobbling over on his peg leg to shake his shoulders.

Stoick stiffly removed his hands from his shoulders, and brushed passed him. "Now where is this Night Fury? The Outcast said that he could lead us to where the accursed beasts are hiding."

"This way," Spitelout said, biting his lip, as he indicated the arena across the large wood and rope bridge spanning the channel of churning water far below them. The two of them began to walk off, talking about the raid, leaving Gobber standing there with a righteous fury burning in his chest.

"Outcast? Outcast?!" he muttered, his one good fist shaking as he clenched his fingers tightly. "What is it going to take?!" he shouted to the heavens, stomping his one good leg. "I swear, someone _or_ something is going to die before he ever admits he's wrong!"

A lightning bolt boomed out of the sky, hitting one of the many pinnacles surrounding the island closest to where Gobber stood, unleashing a hail of boulders that fell harmlessly into the sea. The hair on the back of Gobber's neck stood on end. "I didn't mean it literally," he choked out, fearful eyes scanning the heavens for any more signs. "Please, oh great god of thunder, oh mighty Thor, don't take anyone away from me. They might be stubborn, and prone to pride, but find a way to reconcile their hearts peacefully, without any harm befalling anyone...I _beg_ ye."

The thunder slowly faded away, but there was no answer.


	14. Loyalties

Loyalties

He handed his father his axe, wishing just for once that he would be considered of age - to be able to go into battle with him and fight side by side. But that was merely wishing on his part; he had barely passed dragon training, for that matter. Of course Astrid had beaten him - she had beaten everyone. But Hiccup...now that had come as a surprise to them all. The scrawniest, skinniest, least muscular Viking in all of Berk had beat Astrid - the supposed number one dragon killer in training.

But then he had shown his true colors against that Monstrous Nightmare. He had been flabbergasted, watching him drop his weapons and armor, one by one, until he stood almost naked in front of it. And it _hadn't attacked him_. It sniffed him, sure, but there was no malice, no fire, and no anger that usually accompanied them when they raided their village. There was something different about it, something...he had never seen before.

A hand on his shoulder interrupted his thoughts. "We'll be back," a voice said gruffly. He looked up at his father, the Chief's second-in-command. "Look after your mother for me, alright Snotlout?"

"Of course father," he said, puffing his chest out. "No dragons will get passed this Viking."

Spitelout laughed. "Hopefully there won't be any more at all from now on. I'll see you soon," he said, waving as he boarded the flagship.

Snotlout waved, but he had started to doubt not only himself, but his father and the other leaders of the village as well. Was Hiccup right? Did they really _have_ to fight the dragons?

~:~:~

"Ah, me young'uns, now don't ye fret now," a short but stout woman said as she hugged Ruffnut and Tuffnut, "yer aunt and I will take care of these pests and be back before dinner two nights' hence."

"As will yer mum and dah," the other short woman agreed.

"You'll take care of things around here until we get back, yah?"

"Of course Auntie," Ruffnut muttered.

"We will," Tuffnut agreed.

"Good. Now we're off to chop off a few dragon heads - we'll mount them on the wall with the others when we get back!" The two short women laughed, and headed away from the twins.

Once they were out of sight, the twins sighed with relief. "I don't see why twins run in our family every generation, and no one else's on the island," Tuffnut sighed.

"You're just that lucky," Ruffnut said sarcastically back to him, tossing her braids over her shoulder as she walked back into the now quiet home. "I just hope that they don't get too many awesome scars without us being there," she admitted.

Tuffnut shut the door, then walked over and jumped onto the padded bench that sat in front of their hearth. The fire had been constantly tended to all morning, so it was roaring with heat and warmed the entire common room. "You're just mad that you don't get to go with," he teased.

"So are you!" she shot back. "All we ever get to do is train with weakling dragons..." she dropped off, turning back towards the door.

The room was silent, save for the fire, as both twins thought quietly to themselves. Were they angry because they couldn't go, or...was there another reason?

~:~:~

He sat on his porch, looking out over the ocean. The ships hadn't left yet, but they might as well have. All able bodied adults had been conscripted for the final battle with the dragons, leaving only the eldest, youngest, and anyone who was sick at the time home to deal with the day-to-day running of the village. He would be taking the boat out by himself in the morning to go fishing as usual, but at the moment too many thoughts were racing through his head.

His friend...no, his _best_ friend since childhood, was declared Outcast and would be forced to leave the village. For that matter, he couldn't live on the island anymore either. Then again, he couldn't really call Hiccup his best friend anymore, could he? Ever since Hiccup began acting strange, inventing those strange things, and since he began his job with the water brigade, they hadn't really just sat down and hung out like they used to.

When they were little...well, littler in his case, they would spend all day playing 'Kill The Dragon.' A bag of wool with a lopsided head would be their dragon, and with little wooden swords they would poke it and kill it and become heroes.

Now, well, neither of them were heroes. Well, he was still himself, nerdy as ever; Hiccup was an Outcast now. So if he was still where he always was, and now that Hiccup was never going to catch up or even be better than him, why did it make him feel terrible?

~:~:~

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you free him? If you had only killed him, like any other sane Viking would have done, you're right - we wouldn't be in this mess right now. So why did you? Why him?"

"...Because...because I couldn't kill a dragon."

"Couldn't? Or _wouldn't_?"

"Why are you asking me all these questions Astrid?! I don't know why!"

"I'm asking you these questions because I want to remember this moment, and what you say, _right_ now."

"...I couldn't because...he looked as scared as I did. He didn't want to die, and neither did I. He is so much more than just a monster; he's smart, intelligent, funny, caring - just like a person. I wouldn't kill him!"

"Ah-ha! You said _wouldn't_ this time!"

"I wouldn't! I wouldn't kill a dragon..."

"So now what?"

"Now...now we have to stop my Dad from making the biggest mistake of his life. It's time to act."

"Well, you've already done something stupid."

"…So now it's time to do something crazy!"

~:~:~

The knocks on their doors were sudden, but when Astrid - out of breath and excited - came for them, not a single one denied her.

Snotlout.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

Fishlegs.

They all came at his call, ready to mend the rift. As they walked into the arena and saw him standing there, as tall and as proud as their Chief, they knew that they would be making history that day.

"If you're looking to get eaten, I'd go with the Gronkle."


	15. Darkness

Darkness

It was dark, so dark. Why couldn't he see anything? He couldn't move either - all of his legs were tied down, as well as his tail, and his jaws were clamped shut.

They had put him in some kind of stone cave, and once they had closed the piece of wood over the entrance, it was pitch black. No light, not even a hint of it.

And he was all alone...and scared. Scared not for himself, _no_! Scared for what they might do to Hiccup, yes. The young human had been taken away much like he had, with many of the large humans shouting things at him. Some had started throwing things at him, hitting him with rocks and such, until one of the big humans shouted at them. Once he did, they all stopped and left the stone area where he had fought the other dragon.

But now Toothless also knew the truth - now that he had seen it, he knew what evil the humans had been doing to his brothers and sisters. They were kept in small caves just like this one, barely big enough to move around in, and definitely not big enough to fly in. They were made to fight the humans over and over, while the big humans easily put them back into the cages with only tiny bits of food to keep them from starving. They were cut with sharp objects, hit with blunt ones, and were sometimes killed...which is when new dragons were taken from those that would raid the village.

The Zippleback had whined at him through the metal bars of his cage as they had brought him passed. The Terrors, since they were so small, crooned from their tiny cages for the new dragon, begging it to help them. And the Deadly Nadder and the Gronkle...they were the only female dragons there besides at least one or two of the Terrors, as far as he could tell. Both of them had it the worst; because the humans did not bother to see which dragons were male and which dragons were female, they fed them all the same food all the time.

Female dragons were much different from male dragons. Male dragons only ate raw meat, nothing else. Female dragons at a mixture of raw meat and specific plants which made the shells of their eggs strong and defendable against attack and weather. Those grasses also helped their digestive system and other...female things. The Gronkle and Nadder were lethargic, barely lifting their heads to even make eye contact with him as he passed their respective caves. The Nadder's coloring was off as well; her normally bright blue scales were now a muted blue reminiscent of a cloudy sky. The Gronkle was much thinner than normal, seeing as they were the fattest dragons alive.

Toothless didn't see the Monstrous Nightmare, but he was sure that he was probably in trouble for trying to kill Hiccup. He understood now why he had attacked; if he hadn't his food would probably have been taken away, or he would have been beaten - probably both right now because of him.

As he pondered, there in the dark, he listened. Occasionally a few muted sounds of dragon calls reached his ears, or the pounding of footsteps by the humans, but otherwise they left him alone.

He twitched and wiggled this way and that, trying to find a loose area of whatever they had bound him with. Whatever it was, it looked like those spider web-type things they used in the raids to ground the dragons when they went after the sheep.

Toothless, to his dismay, could not break the tight bonds the humans had tied him up with. He was a Night Fury! The offspring of lightning and death! And a simple _rope_ could out-do him. He snorted, irritated at himself and angry at his situation.

Suddenly a bright light broke through the darkness, forcing him to blink to get his eyes adjusted to the unexpected brightness. Two large humans walked into the room, and he recognized the first one as the one who had shouted at all the other humans.

"So, this is the devil he befriended, is it?" he said, his voice even.

Toothless growled, the sound muted because his jaws were clamped tightly shut.

"Still got some fight left in you, eh? Well, devil, according to the Outcast you can show us the way to the other dragons. To yer home," he said, staring at him with an angry gaze.

Toothless's eyes widened. No...no! He couldn't take them back! If he did...if he did that, all the humans...

"Prepare him for the ship. We leave in one hour."

"Yes Stoick," the other human said. "But what about Hic-"

"He is Outcast, as I have said. He no longer concerns any of us. Our only job now is to find the dragon's nest, and to kill the lot of them. Do I make myself understood?" he hissed, turning to face the slightly smaller human.

The other swallowed loudly. "Yes sir, Chief Stoick," he replied quietly.

"Good." The larger man walked out of the room, his armor clinking softly.

Toothless watched him go, wanting to tear him to shreds or at least take a small bite out of him. He didn't know what Outcast meant, but from how the large man - Stoick, the smaller human called him - had said it, it couldn't mean anything good for his Hiccup. He had to get out of there and find him.

"Come on, you monster. It's time to destroy the lot o'you."


	16. Death

Death

The screams.

Oh _god_…

The screams of pain, of suffering, of _horror_, as the giant dragon decimated his people.

They were being crushed to death by the giant claws; the flames from it were burning them alive. In their terror, they ran over each other, stumbling over weapons and the pikes they had stuck into the ground - killing dozens and maiming all the rest.

Stoick watched in shock as the events rolled out in slow motion all around him. The mountain which they had launched their attack against had actually been the nest of all of the dragons, as he had assumed. Except...it included a dragon so large it could swallow the entire village of Berk.

Spitelout came up to him, shaking his shoulder, shouting something in his ear about retreating. He didn't even hear him, just watched as the dragon swiped its claw at some of his people, sending them flying hundreds of feet through the air and crashing into the wall of rock behind it. When he didn't respond, Spitelout shouted directions at the rest of the people to run for the ships.

As if anticipating their retreat, the large dragon took three steps forward and let loose a continuous stream of fire at the easily consumed wooden ships.

The screams started anew, as the people still on the ships burned to death amidst the now useless floating objects.

The only thing, surprising enough, that did not perish in those flames was a small speck of black that rose above them just as the smoke did. Flapping its wings, it circled once over the area...and left. It flew back through the maze of rocks towards the open ocean, leaving the humans to fend for themselves.

Running up to him, this time it was Gobber's turn to shake Stoick out of his trance. "Fer god's sakes, Stoick, get a hold of yerself!" and he punched him clear across the face with his only good hand, sending the Chief flying into the rocks he was standing on.

This finally shook him out of his state of shock, and he blinked, looking around and finally realizing that he had been standing still since the start of the attack...since they had let the boulders fly against the mountain walls and the giant dragon had appeared. "Gobber...the dragon...the villagers..." he stuttered.

"Need a leader right now. The ships are destroyed, and we have dozens if not more dead and injured. What do we do now, Chief Stoick?" he said pointedly.

He had his hand and prosthetic hand on his hips, which would have looked rather odd had a large fire not been burning behind him and the giant blue-green dragon rampaging across the beach.

"We...we need to get these people out of here. If we can't sail away, we go to where the creature cannot find us. To the water!" he started to shout, pointing away from the dragon across the beach. "Get to the other side of the island and hide in the rock maze!"

Gobber smiled grimly, before joining in the shouts. As the men and women finally realized that their chief could lead them to safety, they started running towards him and away from the living death. Some stayed behind to distract the dragon with the last of the catapults and trebuchets; they lost their lives as the dragon hit them with his large battering ram of a tail that sent the lot of them crashing into rocks and the sea.

Out of two dozen ships that could hold up to fifty Vikings each, less than two-thirds of those who had sailed to the island were still alive. Out of those more than half had some kind of injury, some more mortal than others. Gobber and Spitelout spearheaded the effort to get them into the water and swimming away from the island, to hide, while Stoick stayed at the back to help the stragglers.

Suddenly, a bone shattering roar cut through the air. The giant dragon had finally spotted its prey running from it, and was walking heavily towards the fleeing humans. "Go, go! I'll hold it off!" Stoick shouted, grabbed a heavy mace in one hand and a large sword in another. He ran forwards, through the throng, and planted himself in front of the giant dragon.

As it walked towards him, Stoick was almost sick with see its claws stained red with the blood of his people. He knew now that this had been a mistake...gods, why had he let his pride get the better of him? Hiccup had warned him, for Odin's sake! He told him not to go up against the giant dragon he had seen, told him that there was no way he could win against it.

And he had been right. Stoick allowed a small, miniscule drop of what was probably sweat to escape from his dust-filled eyes (Vikings don't cry, of course) as he thought about the fact that he would never see his boy again, to tell him how sorry he was, or to even tell him how proud of him he was. He had chosen a different path in life from any Viking before him, and pride had blinded him to the fact that his son would now become a legend that would far outlive him.

The dragon came closer, and closer. It roared again at Stoick, seeing the tiny human standing up to it all alone.

Stoick didn't care; he would protect his people to his last breath. At least it wouldn't be able to fol-

Two giant wings unfolded from the beast's back, the wingspan far greater than any dragon Stoick had ever seen. It pumped them once, sending rocks and weapons flying through the air.

Stoick's hope that his people would escape died in his chest, at the same moment that the large shadow enveloped him.


	17. Nightmare

Nightmare

"Alright, today's the day buddy!" Hiccup shouted, excited, from Toothless's back. "Are you ready to give this thing a _real_ test drive?"

Toothless roared, excited as well. Hiccup had finally finished all of his tinkering with his new tail and the system by which Hiccup moved it. As he powered them up into the sky, on the other side of the island away from the village, he couldn't wait to really go all out like he used to.

Hiccup checked the straps that held him to the saddle. Tight, but not too tight. Toothless banked to the left, gliding in a circle, as Hiccup stood up and looked over the shoulder mechanisms that attached to the foot pedals. He made sure that his cheat sheet was at the ready as well, telling him which tail position took them into which type of angle. As Toothless leveled out, Hiccup looked back one last time to check the tail. It flopped in the wind, but held true.

"Okay, buddy, let's do this," he said, and he pulled his knees in.

Toothless immediately dipped into a steep dive, plummeting towards the water. Hiccup could feel his cheeks flapping in the wind, and he grinned.

Using the built up energy, Toothless flattened out to his wings just above the water and glided over it at high speeds, soaring underneath a tall arch of stone that the sea birds nested on. They squawked indignantly as the two of them flew underneath, startling them.

Hiccup laughed, whooping in delight, until he realized they were heading directly for several large stone pillars jutting out of the water. Toothless let out a warning growl before they slammed into it.

"My bad!" he called out, checking his cheat sheet, but before he could switch the tail, they slammed into another pillar.

A heavy black ear plate whacked his arm, indicating the dragon's limit of patience with the new flyer. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," Hiccup grumbled, fixing his notes.

Once he finished, Hiccup nudged Toothless into going higher. They were already several hundred feet above the forest floor, and nearing the peak of the largest mountain on Berk. "Come on buddy, higher!" he urged Toothless, pushing themselves to the limit.

Toothless obliged, his tongue sticking out as he enjoyed the air whipping around them, his strong shoulders and wings beating the air to push them further.

Higher, and higher, until...Hiccup's cheat sheet came loose from the clip on the saddle.

"NO!" Hiccup cried, leaning backwards after it.

Toothless, surprised, stopped flapping his wings mid-flight, leaving them temporarily suspended in mid-air. At the same time, thanks to the lack of gravity pulling upon the rings, Hiccup was untethered from Toothless's saddle.

The two of them screeched with fright almost at the same time, as they both began falling, dropping like stones through the air. Toothless tried to angle his wings to slow his descent, but he ended up hitting Hiccup with them instead and knocking him unconscious, making him spin through the air like a stuffed doll.

Toothless screeched after him, forcing himself to fly faster to catch up to him, even without the use of his tail to steady or steer him. They fell faster, and faster, until...

~:~:~

The pain was the first thing he awoke to, letting him know he was at least still alive. He groaned, trying to take into account any injuries. Everything was sore, maybe a few bruised ribs, but nothing major. His side felt warm...wait, was that…_blood_?

Hiccup forced himself to open his eyes. He saw only darkness. No, wait...black. He saw black. Toothless?

His eyes shot open as he quickly sat up. Toothless's foreleg dropped limply to the side, the rest of him splayed out on Hiccup's left. Hobbling up as best he could, he took in the dragon's appearance.

The saddle was gone, as was most of the flying equipment. His wings were torn to shreds, bloody holes dotting the black like small stars. One of his back legs was twisted at a horrific angle, and there were bloody cuts and gashes all over his body.

A soft, but pain filled rumble filled the air. Hiccup dashed to Toothless's side, tripping and almost running into him. He put his hands on the dragon's head, moving it to his lap.

"Come on buddy, wake up, alright? Everything's going to be fine," Hiccup crooned, tears forming in his eyes. "We'll get you taken care of; you'll be flying again in no time."

Toothless slowly opened his large green eyes, the black slits enormous, even for him. He tried to open his mouth, to roar or purr or _something_, but all that came out was more of the red, metallic tasting liquid that spewed from his body. With every breath, with every heartbeat, he drew closer and closer to oblivion.

Hiccup saw this, and cried out. "Toothless…oh gods…Toothless…" He petted the dragons head, scratching all of his favorite places. "Please don't die…please don't leave me alone…" he begged.

The black dragon lifted up his mouth, in a small but oh so Toothless smile, before he felt his eyelids grow heavy, and shut them forever.

"_TOOTHLESS!"_

~:~:~

His eyes opened wide, a shout still fresh in his ears. He tried getting up, but groaned loudly when he felt himself aching all over. Even his tail hurt! Well, again, since half of his fin had been cut off in the raid weeks before. Still, Hiccup had –

Hiccup! Where was Hiccup! Toothless quickly looked around everywhere, noting that they had landed in a forest clearing underneath the mountain they had just been flying near. He roared, calling out for his friend.

There was no answer.

Toothless roared again, ignoring the protests of his battered and bruised body, and leaping all over the clearing, searching for his friend.

"T-Toothless," a soft voice called.

His black ear plates perked up. The call was so soft, only the enhanced dragon hearing would have heard it. He dashed out of the clearing, heading towards the mountain and the sound.

At the base of the mountain, in what looked like a river of large boulders, Toothless finally heard what he had been searching for: the breathing of a human. He darted around the rocks, jumping over and under them, until he reached his destination.

"H-Hey, b-budd-dy," a hoarse voice whispered to him.

Toothless's eyes grew wide as he walked over to the little human. Hiccup had landed between all of the enormous rocks, thankfully, but left only room for the smaller, pointier rocks. His body was broken, splayed out in all directions, and coming up through his stomach was the pointed end of a rock that looked like it had hung in his home on Dragon Island. There was blood everywhere, and it was the only thing Toothless could smell.

He carefully nudged him, purring, as if to say '_Are you alright?'_

Hiccup smiled at him, his right arm struggling to place itself on the dragon's nose. Toothless bent down, assisting him, as his enormous eyes watched him labor. "I'll be o-okay," he whispered to him, but to deny this fact he began coughing and his body began jerking around the rock that had impaled him.

Toothless whimpered, unsure of what to do.

Minutes passed, and Hiccup's exertions slowed. The blood slowed as well, but even so Toothless knew that there was so much of it outside of the human instead of inside of him. The small human looked even smaller now amidst the blood and gore.

Even so… "Toothless?" he breathed out.

The dragon perked his ears up, staring into the small boy's face.

"When I die, I don't want you to take me back to the village," he said quickly, breathing hard and fast. "If you do, they'll think you did this. I want you to run away, and never come back." He stopped to cough, his hand on Toothless's nose wavering. "Do-do you understand me?" he finished, looking directly into the dragon's eyes.

Hiccup's normally bright green eyes were pale, almost vacant, as they stared at him. Toothless had seen this before, when the older dragons would pass on. Hiccup was passing on as well, but he didn't want that. He shook his massive head adamantly.

"Don't be silly," he whispered. "You need to go now, alright? Don't give up your freedom for me."

Toothless whined again, but he knew better. He consented, dipping his head once.

"G-goo-oood," Hiccup sighed, his eyes closing, and a gentle whoosh of air exiting through his nose.

Toothless waited for him to breathe again.

He didn't.

An agonizing roar filled the skies of Berk.

~:~:~

Both human and dragon shot up amidst the tall grasses, eyes wide and hearts beating madly. They looked around for each other, their fearful eyes finally meeting.

"Toothless?!"

_Roar!_

They both scrambled over to each other, tumbling as they hit each other in a sloppy hug. Hiccup was laughing, tears streaming from his eyes, and Toothless was licking his head all over.

"You'll _never_ believe the nightmare I just had."

Toothless just grunted in consent, giving him another affectionate lick.


End file.
